E3 2010 Hands-On: Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light

For some reason that I can’t really explain, I’ve never played a Tomb Raider game before going to E3. That is a fact. Another fact? Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light might be the best game I played at E3.

Somewhere in the Square Enix booth, nestled in the back of the Los Angeles Convention Center’s South Hall, was Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light. I wasn’t expecting much from this game during my booth tour, but I figured it would be a good chance to try the first “Tomb Raider game” to be published by Square Enix. And just so you know, the quotation marks in the previous sentence do belong there because this isn’t like any other Tomb Raider game.

Lara Croft grabbed my attention when I noticed how different it looked from the other Tomb Raider games. As I waited for my turn at the controller, the Crystal Dynamics dev that was showing me around pointed out the top-down isometric view that the game employed. I discussed the game with some of my peers later on in the day, and they said that it looked like Diablo, a series that I’m unfamiliar with. Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light reminded me of a combination of 3D Gauntlet and a twin-stick shooter with puzzles. This combination of mechanics worked really well in the context of a Lara Croft game. Lara’s movement is controlled with the left analog stick, and the direction in which she’ll look and aim is controlled with the right analog stick. The isometric view lets you see the action from a different angle and does a good job of highlighting a major component of the game — the puzzles.

One of the most attractive things about this game is that it has couch and online co-op. You can have two completely different experiences depending on whether you choose to play alone or with someone else playing as Totec, the Guardian of Light.

Co-op is where this game can really shine because new solutions to puzzles open up. One puzzle room that I played involved a device that constantly shot spears down the middle of the room with two pillars on either side of the spears’ path. The goal was to press a button that would raise the device so that the spears couldn’t hurt me. I was told that there were a few solutions to this puzzle.  Lara could push a boulder to block the spears as she presses the button, attach a bomb to the boulder and destroy the trap itself, or have Totec use his shield to protect Lara from the spears as she presses the button.

The game will also have light RPG elements as defeating monsters will net points that can be used to unlock items and weapons. Coupling the co-op gameplay with these RPG elements can also yield a competitive experience as players may be compelled to out-do one another for these points.  It’s clear that the game was designed in such a way that would really deliver different experiences on various levels.

Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light will be available for XBLA (as an Xbox Live Summer of Arcade title), PSN, and Steam later this summer. At $15 or 1200 Microsoft Points, this game is going to be worth buying. And if you don’t want to take my word for it, consider the games that carry the Xbox Live Summer of Arcade branding and the pedigree they carry because of it.

This game is a full of firsts. It’s the first downloadable game by Crystal Dynamics and the first downloadable Lara Croft game. It’s also Lara’s first time starring in a Square Enix-published title.  And based on what I played on the floor at E3, it’ll be the first Lara Croft game that I buy.